Star Trek TOS: Mudd's Women

Ethan: 0:18

Hello everybody and welcome back to another episode of Father and Son's Guide to the Galaxy. I'm your host Ethan, and I'm your

Anthony: 0:26

co host Anthony, and this week we are back doing our reviews of Star Trek the Original Series. This week's episode is Muds Women, episode six I believe from the original series.

Ethan: 0:41

Yep, so we're just going to do a brief synopsis real quick, and then we're going to go into our opinions on the topics, things we noticed in the episode, and stuff like that. So we enter in with the Enterprise, chasing a smaller ship, it looked like. Like a cargo vessel or something. Yeah. And this vessel was not responding to any hails. And on the screen you kind of see it like flying around very sporadically and it's, it's going all over the place and then it enters like this asteroid field and its engines get totally destroyed, stuff like that. Anyway, they, if I'm remembering, remembering correctly, they do get some kind of transmission from the ship, right. Or did they just beam some, beam him aboard?

Anthony: 1:30

I think they just beamed

Ethan: 1:32

him aboard. Yeah, I think they just managed to get a lock because the shields were down or something.

Anthony: 1:37

Yeah, but it caused problems for the ship, for the Enterprise.

Ethan: 1:40

It was quite straining on their, did they say it was their dilithium crystals? Yeah, their crystals. Yeah, so then those end up cracking, which becomes a plot point later. So they beam the pilot of the ship aboard, and it's this guy named Harry Mudd, and then he tells them he has other people aboard, and so then they beam them aboard, and it turns out the people that they beamed aboard were not his crewmates, they were his cargo, and it was these three women that everybody, every guy on the Enterprise was like in awe whenever they saw them, and then Since there is cargo, Harry Mudd gets brought into court, and there's this very funny scene with a lie detector, and was his real name Harry Mudd? I cannot remember.

Anthony: 2:32

The real name was Harry Mudd, initially he told them a different name, but when he was under the lie detector, He wa that's when they realized that his name was Harry

Ethan: 2:44

Mud. Yeah. And then the lie detector called out everybody like all the guys in the room that were perspirating and rising, like blood pressure. And the best part when was, was when Kirk was like, delete this section from the log for the, for the trial. That was pretty funny.

Anthony: 3:02

Yeah. Well tell our listeners why that happened though.

Ethan: 3:07

It's because during the trial, Mud's cargo, the three women, were witnesses, and all the guys sitting there were just incredibly nervous the whole time because of them just being there.

Anthony: 3:20

Yeah, because they all thought the women were hot.

Ethan: 3:25

Yeah, pretty much. And then, so, Mud gets sentenced For at the moment at least to be confined to quarters till they get back to earth and they can put them through a real trial And stuff like that. And then so what happens is with the crystals cracking earlier the Enterprise had to go and get new ones and so they managed to find a mining planet nearby and contacted the miners and they were gonna go over and negotiate for some crystals or whatever, right?

Anthony: 4:03

Yeah, yeah, they were gonna try to get the crystals that they needed so that they could reestablish warp capabilities. They were basically running on auxiliary power to get there.

Ethan: 4:13

Yes, and so in the meantime, Harry Mudd is plotting to take control of the ship with his, with the women, just by manipulating everybody else on the ship. But then one of the, one of the women, her name was Eve. I think her job was to try and like, seduce Captain Kirk. But she ends up not going through with it. Cause like, she feels guilty, she can't do it. And then she, she leaves like, partway through when she's trying to do that. And then, so, after that, we figure out that these women are actually, like, much older looking, their, their skin is a bit more wrinkled, and they aren't as beautiful in comparison to, like, beauty standards of today and of the time that this episode was out. And so what Harry Mudd did is he gives them this drug that alters their appearance in a way. And I guess they have to take it every 48 hours, I think is what they said.

Anthony: 5:20

Yeah, something like that. And he was basically in a contract with these women, where he agreed to take them and help them find husbands and gave them these Pills that would make them look beautiful so that they could get married or whatever So it in a way They're they're kind of almost like his property which is of course kind of gross, but that's That's what was going on.

Ethan: 5:54

Yeah, it was sort of like an indentured servitude type thing right on So, then after we figure out this, they end up making their way to the, to the planet. But prior, Harry Mudd had contacted the miners working there himself and had offered them the women as wives in exchange for the crystals. And so once the miners come aboard the Enterprise, that's what they think they're getting and won't negotiate for anything else. Like, they, they don't want any kind of money or supplies or anything. They just want what Harry Mudd offered them. So, Kirk, in desperation, has to accept, or else his ship is gonna get stuck in orbit, and they won't be able to leave or go to warp, and they'll pretty much be stranded on that planet. Yeah, well, and I

Anthony: 6:45

think they said that the ship could only remain in orbit for a few days before it would you know, enter the atmosphere and crash.

Ethan: 6:54

And then so what happens after this is they go down and they're like, all right, where's our crystals? And they're kind of very I wouldn't say reluctant, but like they're just straight up ignoring them. They're like I'll do it on my own time Like completely not caring that the Enterprise is Falling out of orbit. It's running out of energy. Yeah, you're talking about the miners. Yeah the miners because they're just so like single focused on their newfound property, I guess you could say, because they basically got the, the, them as wives for the crystals, which they ended up basically violating the contract, but to them that didn't matter. Right. And the woman I mentioned earlier, Eve, she had problems with the drug, saying it didn't feel real, and she was very, she was, She was very reluctant to take the pill when we saw it earlier. Like, saying that it was a cheat and stuff. And, so I guess what happened is, she got incredibly, like, self conscious around the, around everybody and tried to run away. And this planet is like an incredibly horrible, barren surface. It's like, impossible to live on. There's a bunch of dust storms and things. And so immediately, Kirk and this one minor guy runs after her and tries to catch her, but Kirk can't find her, so he returns to the Enterprise, but then eventually I believe that miner then finds her and then carries her back to his house, but doesn't contact the Enterprise, which is a very key point because the Enterprise was kept using energy to search for her. Yeah. And so what happens after that is the The miner kind of just passes out afterwards and then he wakes up to Eve cooking and he gets like very mad about that he's like a man can do his own cooking stuff like that and even tries to like play it off as if the meal isn't as good as he thought it was but then Eve kind of snaps back and is like this is your cooking in the pan right here I just heated it up And they kind of get mad at each other, things like that. And then, that guy then leaves, right? I believe, and then he comes back later. I think that's right, yeah. Probably to go do some mining. And so he comes back and Eve is playing some game. He thought it was Solitaire, but it wasn't. I don't remember what card game she was playing. But this, at this time, the medicine, the, the pill had worn off, so she was Starting to have a more aged face, and he was all like, What happened to your face? Like, that is the most, that is like the rudest way to bring it up. And then she kind of starts talking to him about it, like, This is what I look like normally. And then, Kirk and Crap, I just forgot his name. Harry Mudd? Yeah, Harry Mudd, thank you. Walk in, And then offer her the pill to kind of show as a demonstration, and she takes it, and becomes a beautiful woman again. But then Kirk reveals that it was a placebo, and all, all she really needed was her confidence. I guess the effect of the drug kind of like Worked the way into her chemistry or something to where it could be controlled. That's my guess but Not sure.

Anthony: 10:34

Well, I think I think the point was that the drugs that Harry Mudd was giving them Didn't really do anything but because they thought it was doing something to change their appearance they gained the confidence that they needed or whatever so that They projected themselves as if they were beautiful and other people perceived them that way.

Ethan: 11:01

Oh, well, I thought they changed it to a placebo just for that time and that

Anthony: 11:06

it would normally work. Right, they did, but I think what the episode was trying to portray was that even though Kurt gave Eve, a placebo, the drugs that Harry Mudd was giving them didn't really actually alter their appearance.

Ethan: 11:29

I have a feeling in like the terms of science fiction and things like that, they did, but enough of them taken over time kind of accumulated in effect to where you didn't need the pill anymore to have that happen. Maybe so. And then it just turned into a matter of like Do you, like, can you picture it happening? Like, self confidence. And I guess the miner guy kind of, like, got over his, like, I don't know, his little temper tantrum he was throwing. Cause he saw that she was, like, telling the truth or whatever. And then he finally agrees to give the Enterprise the crystals. And then they get the crystals and the Enterprise leaves to bring Harry Mudd to his trial. Right. And that's pretty much the full episode, unless you have anything to add. No,

Anthony: 12:20

I think that hits all the main plot points of the episode. So what did you think of the episode? I thought it

Ethan: 12:29

was fairly odd. Yeah.

Anthony: 12:32

Let's talk about Harry Mudd first. What did you think of his character as kind of the antagonist of the

Ethan: 12:39

episode? He was very interesting. He kinda I mean, like most of the costuming. His costuming was very weird. He had a very, like, fake looking belt. Yeah. Just looked like a piece of felt wrapped around a shirt.

Anthony: 12:53

Yeah, and I think he was intended to be more of a comical villain, right? I mean, he wasn't anybody that, like, struck Fear into the hearts of the Enterprise crew, right? I mean, he, he was this kind of, he kind of had this goofy smile on his face, and he had a weird mustache,

Ethan: 13:11

and Right, the mustache, he had a very like curly mustache. Yeah, he

Anthony: 13:14

just, he just kind of looked like a weirdo, and I think he was meant to be somewhat comical in in the way that they, The actor portrayed him.

Ethan: 13:28

When I first saw him I thought he was from like a different time period. Like this could be like a time

Anthony: 13:32

travel. Yeah, I actually thought that too. Cause he did look like maybe he was coming from like the 1800s United States or something like that. Yeah. Yeah but yeah he was interesting. And apparently he makes another appearance in a later episode I read. And also an appearance in Star Trek the Animated Series. So, we might have to check those out, but, but yeah, it was kind of a weird episode. The three women kind of made me think of the sirens from Greek mythology, you know, who lured the sailors in because of their beauty, because They had this almost magical effect on the members of the crew because of how beautiful they were. And it was kind of, it was kind of embarrassing, I think, for the crew members, right? Yeah. The way that they were behaving. Like the ship could not function. Right, right. The ship couldn't function. They probably

Ethan: 14:35

had to, like, snap a guy at the helm. do his job.

Anthony: 14:39

Right. Yeah. Nobody, nobody was able to concentrate. So I don't know. I mean, I think the main kind of theme from this episode was this idea of illusion versus reality, right? Right. And Particularly when we're talking about Looks and appearance and and things like that, you know, what what is it that really makes somebody beautiful or handsome? Is it is it actually? Their physical appearance, to some degree, yes, right? But that's that's not the main thing that makes people attractive. And You know, we see the issue today more than ever, right? I mean, you've got cosmetic surgeries and all sorts of crazy stuff people do to their bodies to try to look good. Perfect. You've got social media, you know, filters and AI generated images of you know, of ourselves that, that look better than our actual photos and it's all to try to project this idea that we're these amazing looking creatures, but it's, None of it's real,

Ethan: 15:57

right? Right. Yeah, I, when I watched the episode, I really started thinking about social media and how much people try to be someone they're not. I mean, I'm not really on there, but I know from, like, my friends telling me stuff about it, is people are very fake out there, and honestly, they try to act the same in real life. But it's not the same effect to how they appear online. So you can just tell like that person is very fake if you talk

Anthony: 16:31

to them. Yeah. And it's hard to get to. the root of a person to, to figure out who they really are sometimes. Because if you have an online persona, a social media persona, the way you act in other environments, I mean, it's, it's hard to really know when sometimes when people are being authentic. Right. And that's I, I think that's kind of what the episode was getting at. This obsession with appearance over substance the substance of a person, and the values that they hold and the things that really make, People truly attractive you know, as opposed to the superficial idea of, of looks. So, yeah, I mean, I thought it was an interesting idea to explore and, and ever more relevant today. I mean, they, there was no social media back when that episode was made but. Like you said, that's, that's a huge part of our culture today. So the, the theme of the episode is still quite relevant. I think to the things that we're dealing with in today's society where we have advancements in technology and advanced advancements and Cosmetics and medicine to make us look a certain way you know, it's, and then the wealth that our society has, right, speaking in general terms that, you know, that people spend all this money on trying to look a certain way and portray themselves as a certain way and we're losing, we're losing our authenticity in the process.

Ethan: 18:10

Right. There's also the end of the episode touches on the. concept of self confidence and you could tell when when Eve took the placebo how surprised she was and it was almost like she had a different facial expression yeah she had the rest of the episode so it was kind of the shift from pretending to be beautiful and acting fake to Getting to the core and realizing, like, you don't have to act like, like you are, or, or like, be fake like that to be considered beautiful, cause you just have to You just have to look inward on yourself and have a little bit more confidence in showing it. Yeah,

Anthony: 19:01

and it was at that point that the minor guy, who had kind of been a jerk up until that point, I think realized that she was a beautiful person inside and out, right? Right. And so he decided, you know, that he wanted to try to make the relationship work and stay with her or whatever. It all happened in a very short period of time, so a little unrealistic as far as story development, but, but that's how they ended the episode. They were

Ethan: 19:31

probably running out of time, and they needed to finish filming. Cause they, cause back then they had like specific time blocks they needed to fill for TV, right? There was no like, going longer, stuff like that, right?

Anthony: 19:48

Well, yeah, I mean, you had, I mean, that was live TV, so, or not live TV, but it aired at a certain time, right, and you had commercial breaks and all that, and it had to be over by a certain time. I mean, we still have TV shows like that today, it's just that most of what we watch, it seems, is

Ethan: 20:05

streaming. Yeah, they have a bit more flexibility in how long their content is

Anthony: 20:09

now. Yeah, definitely the streaming shows do. So yeah it was a good episode overall. I, I don't know, like you said, it was a little bizarre, but I think it had some good ideas in it. Did you Assign it a letter grade, like we've been doing.

Ethan: 20:24

I'd say I'd give it a B ranking. Oh, B okay. Cause, it, entertaining concept, just some of the ways they like, portrayed some of it was like, really weird. Like, I found the way that they like, portrayed the men acting. Was, like, trying to take how men act in real life and then scaling it up 100 times, just way over dramatizing it. Right,

Anthony: 20:50

right. Which, I think there's a lot of that in the original series. You know, the kind of over dramatic acting. Sometimes it almost seems like they're more of caricatures as opposed to characters, but I, I, I'm hoping and I, and I think from what I remember, you know, as the series goes along, it becomes less and less like that. Because certainly by the time they got to the movies, it didn't feel like that at

Ethan: 21:19

all. And they also had the time to develop it for their characters properly.

Anthony: 21:24

Yeah, for sure. Yeah, I'd give it a B. It was, it was okay. Like I said, not my favorite episode. But I did think there was some Thoughtful ideas behind it I, I, I didn't necessarily love Harry Mudd as an antagonist. It'll be interesting to see the, you know, when he comes back, whatever episode that is. I'm not sure if that's in the first season or a later season. But it'll be interesting to see what they do with this character then and if he has any, Character development or revolves in any way that makes him a little a little less one dimensional of a character, so.

Ethan: 22:02

Yeah, because like we know he's probably gonna go to like Federation Rehabilitation because they don't necessarily have prisons. It's more of kind of Yeah, it's like

Anthony: 22:12

rehabilitation camps or whatever, but but done

Ethan: 22:16

humanely. Yeah There's a very, like, funny line at the end of the episode where Kirk offers to go to his hearing, and Mud's like, No, you'll just make it worst. Yeah. Like, ten times worse. Right.

Anthony: 22:28

Yeah, so. So anyway, decent episode. I mean, check it out if you haven't. If you're watching Star Trek The Original Series You know, I don't think I don't think it would be a big deal if you skipped over this episode. You're not going to miss anything. But, you know, if you want to be a completist and watch all of them like we're trying to do, then, you know, you've got to sit through it.

Ethan: 22:54

Yeah, so unless you've got anything else to add, I think we can finish the episode here.

Anthony: 22:59

Yeah, sounds good. So thanks as always to our listeners. We've got some faithful listeners out there and we really appreciate it. And interesting to us as we look at the data that we have. Some listeners in different parts of the world, right? I think that we, we've got listeners in Germany and Canada and some other places. So that's kind of cool for us to see. So we really appreciate your support and hope you'll keep tuning in and we'll do our best to keep creating interesting content for you Talking about Star Trek and and at some point we'll deviate from Star Trek and talk about some other science fiction shows or That, that are out there that, that we wanna chime in on. So in the meantime have a a great week and we'll see you next time.

Ethan: 23:49

See ya.